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Philadelphia Council Votes to Loosen Stricter Rules on Single-Room Residences Amid Housing Shortage Crisis

Official:Amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Zoning and Planning,” by providing for limited expansion of single-room residence, under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Green

Introduced: May 19, 2022

housing zoning

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2020–2023 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill proposes to allow limited expansion of single-room residences in Philadelphia, which are buildings where people rent individual rooms without private kitchens.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Allows limited expansion of single-room residences (also known as rooming houses or boarding houses) in Philadelphia, where people rent individual rooms without private kitchens.
Modifies the definition of a single-room residence in the zoning code to specifically include buildings with rooms rented as living quarters without private kitchens.
Updates the use table in Table 14-602-1 to include single-room residences as permitted uses in certain residential districts (RSD-1, RSD-2, and RSD-3).
Removes the prohibition on single-room residences in these districts, allowing them to be permitted as of right, subject to the applicable regulations and standards.